‘People are annoyed by my rise’: Vivek Ramaswamy responds to polls showing rising unfavorability

Many people are annoyed by his rise and believe that a 38-year-old is too young to become US President, Indian-American Vivek Ramaswamy said Sunday. After his remarkable showing in the inaugural Republican presidential primary debate, a series of opinion polls indicate a surge in his popularity. The latest opinion poll reveals a 12-point increase since his August performance. At the same time, his criticism by his opponents has also grown. “Well, look, we have been taking intense criticism, Shannon, over the last several weeks since I performed well on that second debate. And this is part of the process, so I invite the open debate,” Ramaswamy told Fox News in an interview. “The reality is many people are annoyed by my rise and believe that a 38-year-old is too young to be US President. The fact of the matter is Thomas Jefferson was 33 years old when he wrote the US Declaration of Independence. He also invented the swivel chair while he was at it, by the way,” he asserted. Ramaswamy argued that there is a need to revive that spirit. “And I believe, it will take someone whose best days ahead are still yet ahead in life to see a country whose best days are still yet ahead of itself. And I do believe that the United States of America can see our best days still yet ahead. But we can’t just be running from something”. “I don’t actually criticize the radical Biden agenda that much because I think it’s the wrong place to focus. Of course, there’s a lot to criticize. But we have to offer a vision of our own, not just what are we running from. What are we running to, revive meritocracy, the pursuit of excellence, economic growth, free speech, and open debate? These are basic values that most Americans still agree with,” he said. “That’s why I’m confident that we have a chance to deliver a 1980-style, Ronald Reagan-style, moral mandate. That is how we’ll unite this country. And I’m in this race because I think I am the single best-positioned candidate to do it. And even though we’ve taken criticisms from basically every other candidate that’s been threatened by my rise, I’m not running against any of them. I am running for this country. That’s the mission we’re guided by,” Ramaswamy said. Ramaswamy has garnered attention after his maiden Republican presidential primary debate held on August 23. The first poll that came out after the debate said that 28 per cent of the 504 respondents said that Ramaswamy performed the best. He was followed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis with 27 per cent, and former vice president Mike Pence (13 per cent). Indian-American Nikki Haley received seven per cent of the votes. With inputs from PTI.